Here's confirmation of a story we heard last week. O2 has followed last year's launch of its O2 Money financial services with O2 Flow. It's a travel insurance policy with cover that can be increased or decreased for different types of holiday. Payments are made every month; there's a six-month minimum term. Single-trip and annual policies are also available from O2 Travel Insurance, which is underwritten by Mondial Assistance. However, there's little connection to O2's mobile business with the new insurance scheme.
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Vodafone's results for the three-month period ended 31st December 2009 have revealed an increase in group revenue to £11.5 billion and an increase in the proportionate customer base to 333 million mobile users worldwide. Group service revenue increased year-on-year by 11% to £10.7 billion; 'organic' service revenue (which gives more of a direct comparison) fell by 1.2%, which was better than the previous quarter.
In the UK, organic service revenue fell by 4.9% compared with the same quarter in 2008 – although the trend improved compared to the previous quarter as a result of new customers who joined through the launch of new products and indirect distribution channels. The UK's messaging and data revenue growth was helped by unlimited message plans and the growth in mobile internet bundles. These trends were offset by the continued fall in voice revenue that resulted from competitive price reductions and July's termination rate cut.
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Motorola Ventures, the investment arm of Motorola, says it's invested in mobile barcode company Scanbuy. Financial details weren't disclosed.
Scanbuy offers advertisers a service called ScanLife to provide digital information to consumers through barcodes. Businesses can place barcodes on their packaging or advertising; consumers who use their camera phones to 'scan' the barcode can then be taken directly to a mobile website or audio/video content. The business can then track and analyse the results, including consumer locations, and can modify the codes to launch different actions.
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